Starting December 1, an experiment will begin on applying digital codes to medicines for animals
Not only people, but also animals suffer from diseases and infections. Medicines for treating people undergo what is called triple control, but the market for veterinary drugs is in complete confusion — they are freely sold on any online platform. Moreover, some of them are even more expensive than medicines for the population. And then it turns out that it’s a counterfeit…
Sergey Lisovsky told us about what prospects await this area and how to protect your pets. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Protection of Competition.
The problem with veterinary drugs and vaccines arose in connection with the introduction of “nuclear sanctions” against Russia. Some Western manufacturers have left our market, others are planning to do so… As a result, here and there there is a shortage of necessary medicines for animals. What should dog and cat lovers do? Many people literally do not get out of the Internet in search of the right drug. But not everyone and not always succeeds in finding something suitable. Alas and ah: it seems that we are late with import substitution in this industry.
— With medicines for people, we really managed to solve the problem: firstly, they are prohibited from sale on marketplaces, and secondly, labeling has been introduced that ensures full traceability of turnover and excludes illegal sales.
The situation with veterinary drugs, unfortunately, is much worse — We have a huge amount of drugs that are unknown where they came from, their effectiveness has not been proven, and most importantly — they can be dangerous! Moreover, approximately half are generally prohibited in Russia. And when Rosselkhoznadzor decides to ban a particular medicine or vaccine for animals, they are withdrawn from veterinary hospitals and veterinary pharmacies, but immediately appear on marketplaces.
And it is very difficult to regulate the process. Starting with the fact that we have insufficient control over the activities of marketplaces — they just shrug their shoulders at all the claims: they say, we didn’t know, the sellers are on their own, we are not responsible for the suppliers’ goods, we only provide an electronic shelf…
— Only the introduction of labeling, as was done with medicines, can help combat counterfeit products. The Government of the Russian Federation has decided to begin an experiment on applying digital codes to veterinary drugs from December 1 this year, and this measure will allow the state to trace the path of animal drugs from the manufacturer to the final consumer.
This practice has been in place in other product groups for several years and has proven its effectiveness. Today we have complete information on their production, movement, sales, and, accordingly, the quality of these goods is guaranteed.
By the way, after the introduction of drug labeling, many cases were identified where drugs for certain social groups of the population, which were provided free of charge in hospitals, were written off and sold for money in pharmacies. Now such cases are impossible — precisely because of the markings.
— Certainly. Today you can buy whatever you want on the Internet. But such purchases do not provide a guarantee of quality. In the first quarter of this year, the North-West Interregional Directorate of Rosselkhoznadzor monitored 468 Internet sites to identify the sale of imported supplies of veterinary products labeled in a foreign language and the facts of their sale without a license.
A simple search, which took me no more than half an hour, revealed many such proposals. For example, medications for fleas and ticks, for controlling blood pressure in cats, for treating Cushing's syndrome in dogs.
Although, by law, everything sold in Russia must be accompanied by packaging in Russian. Otherwise, this is a direct violation of the law, which indicates that the drugs have not passed either certification or testing in the Russian Federation.
— We work a lot in this direction, and here we must pay tribute to Russian virologists and veterinarians. Quite large volumes of our vaccine are exported abroad.
— We are not against supplies from abroad. But provided that they have been certified in our country and have information support in Russian. In practice, it turns out that a foreign company that has left our market continues to supply goods. However, not directly, as before, but through third countries — for example, through China, Kazakhstan…
Various scammers immediately took advantage of the situation and “nailed” it. to this flow of supplies with their counterfeit goods. The process turns out to be uncontrollable. We are forced to take adequate measures.
— In the industrial production of farm animals, we cover approximately 70% of the needs with our products. Even in relatively recent times, we had this practice: when we purchased farm animals abroad, suppliers also forced veterinary medications on us. Explaining that if we do not use their medicines and vaccines, then they cannot give guarantees on livestock productivity. For this reason, we almost destroyed our own production of such products.
I remember in the early 2000s there was an incident at my poultry complex. The chickens began to eat poorly and gain weight poorly… The cross was imported, and veterinarians began to advise us on how to cure the birds — use such and such foreign medicines. We calculated how much it would cost us: an additional 1.5 rubles for each head. A kilogram of chicken then cost about 35 rubles. That is, an immediate 3.5% increase in cost.
Okay, I had qualified specialists. They suggested recalling the Soviet experience instead of imposed imported products. We installed ultraviolet lamps in the workshops and fed the chickens with ascorbic acid. And everything just went away.
Instead of additional costs of 1.5 rubles per head, we spent only 7 kopecks. And most importantly, if we followed the lead of the veterinarians, our birds would get hooked on those same expensive imported drugs and would not be able to show productivity without their constant use.
— As I already said, we already have experience, the system has been worked out and has proven itself well, including in the group of pharmaceutical products. And the packaging and packaging of products is not much different here and there. From December of this year, manufacturers of these drugs will begin to prepare, install additional equipment…
— Today we hear similar lamentations from both veterinary vaccine manufacturers and associations. What, they say, let’s not do it, that now is such a time, it’s already difficult for us, there are additional problems, including financial ones, that need to be postponed for later… Although, in my opinion, conscientious vaccine manufacturers should be in favor of experimentation and labeling, because all unknown veterinary substances will leave the market, it will become easier for them to work, and they will be able to increase their own sales.